Halloween Fever
by Bridgr6
Summary: "Stella, it's all here in plain sight and I think it's time we all take a step back because it is obvious that Mac is superhuman." Just a little something I cooked up for the holiday...Happy Halloween!


Well, in honor of being gone for so long I wrote this little thing. It's just a little light fun for Halloween, so enjoy and have a splendid rest of the weekend! ;)

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Adam peered around the corner of the desk, his eyes never leaving his prey. He was going to get his answers tonight…one way or another. This man was not who he claimed to be and he intended to prove it…there were just too many unanswered questions and so much mystery.

"Why are you spying on my partner?" a whisper sounded close to his ear and he jumped just high enough to bang his head on the table next to him. He stood sheepishly, while rubbing his head. He could already feel a blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks.

"I'm not," he tried not to stutter. He turned slowly to stare at Stella, who had her arms folded across her chest and a cocked eyebrow that was just daring him to argue with her. He shrugged and glanced at his feet. "I was just testing a theory," he said casually.

"It looked to me like you were stalking Mac…don't think I haven't been watching you follow him across the whole building," she said, her fingers slowly tapping her arm and adding more pressure to his already nervous brain. He tried to meet her gaze but it felt like it was burning a hole through him.

"I-I was just-" he stumbled for an answer and her eyebrows rose even further. Finally, he sighed, knowing Stella wasn't going to just walk away. He cursed himself for not realizing she was all knowing when it came to Mac's whereabouts and who was observing his whereabouts, which was Adam at the current moment…unfortunately for him.

He paused for a moment before speaking again.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," Adam started, but Stella's stern glare twitched into a brief smile.

"I already think you're crazy," she said and he laughed nervously, hoping she was kidding. She waited for him to explain his actions.

"So you know that case last week with the guy who hunted super humans-" Adam stuttered. Stella's features relaxed slightly in amusement.

"You mean the schizophrenic man who stalked and killed normal people he believed had superpowers and were villains," Stella corrected lightly.

"Did you notice anything strange about Mac during the investigation?" Adam played with the pen on the desk next to him, his voice quivering slightly.

"Sure, but is it all that surprising considering the man fixated on him and for several hours in interrogation, called him a superhuman?" Stella let out a breathless laugh, remembering her partner's surprised expression at being accused of having superpowers. She had never sat through such a strange interrogation. The man had kept trying to grab Mac's hands to prove to everyone who Mac apparently "really was". The man had stared fondly at Mac through the duration of the interrogation as if mesmerized. Mac had tried to question him, but had looked extremely uncomfortable under the man's watchful gaze. The man had eventually confessed upon Mac's request and had been escorted out, but not before explaining to Mac that he understood all he could do and would one day fight by his side. Mac had tried to keep a straight face, but had come out of the room shaking his head with laughter. She hadn't seen him smile like that in a long time and had been grateful for the crazed killer for a very brief moment.

"Nothing suspicious?" Adam asked as he glanced up at her quickly and pushed a sweaty palm through his hair. Stella's eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked, looking suddenly very confused. Adam let out a slightly crazed laugh.

"It has all been adding up too…that's the crazy part and I have been studying him for a couple of days-" Adam stopped at this point and watched Stella's eyes narrow further as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. He sighed, she clearly didn't understand. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the crumpled notebook he had been taking notes on for the past two days. Adam shoved them towards her.

"Just look," he said. She looked down at the notebook and shook her head in disbelief before glancing down at his chicken scratch writing. He watched her closely as she read, her frown deepened as she scanned the pages before her.

"Adam, this is-" she started, but he cut her off.

"Crazy, I know, but look at all the evidence," he flipped through the pages quickly and pointed. "First of all, we barely know anything about Mac's past, but he seems to know a lot about-well, everything…as if he's been around for it all," Adam glanced at Stella, who was staring at him like he was crazy…still. "Oh, and what about family? He doesn't have any living relatives, Stella, because he has isn't from here!" Adam started quickly flipping through the pages, trying to convince her. "Nobody can be good at everything, but I have yet to see something Mac can't do," Adam spoke quickly as all the evidence came together. "How many times has he been shot at or been in an impossible situation and came out without a single scratch?" Adam asked, knowing the answer. "Or gone for days without food and has anyone even seen him sleep before?" he laughed at all the information. "Stella, it's all here in plain sight and I think it's time we all take a step back because it is obvious that Mac is superhuman…or a superhero, I don't know yet," Adam finished his rant breathlessly. He stopped and finally met Stella's gaze. She smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Okay, Adam, this is getting too weird so I'm going to leave," she said as she moved past him. She turned back before exiting the door. "Oh, and stop following him, Adam, it's creepy," She shook her head in amazement before leaving him alone. Adam laughed too.

"Wait, creepy?" he whispered to himself. Then he thought about what he had been doing for the past couple of days. "Okay, maybe a little creepy," he said to himself.

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Stella tapped the pen against her lips slowly as she rested her chin on her hand and leaned on the evidence table. She watched his every move. He moved smoothly and expertly as he took samples and fibers from the victim's clothes in front of him. She would never in a million years admit that Adam's little speech or whatever it was had gotten to her. She knew Mac Taylor and she could say she was certain he was an average human. Well, maybe not average…she knew he was brilliant and talented…also, he did have a large amount of luck when it came to danger…she shook her head. No, she wasn't getting wrapped up in Adam's crazy web of possibilities.

She continued to watch him, ignoring her own evidence that needed processed.

She had worked with him for over fifteen years so if he had any other-worldly secrets she of all people would know. He didn't talk all that much about family, but he had shared with her the fact that they were all gone now, which was tragic, but reasonable. She sighed heavily, she was losing it and so close to Halloween too. If she just asked a couple of questions she could clear up her own thoughts and save Adam from losing it. Yeah, she would do this for Adam…just a few questions…

"Hey, Mac-" she called out for his attention.

"Hmmm?" he broke from his concentration and stared at her from across the table.

"I was just wondering if you've been sleeping lately," she smiled warmly as she straightened and dropped the pen from her hand, trying to at least look like she was doing her job. She tried to focus on the vic's purse in front of her.

"I'm fine, Stella," he gave her a reassuring smile.

"That's a no," she leaned on the table again. "You know, most people also find food quite necessary for living," she mentioned teasingly. He chuckled and nodded.

"Good to know," he said. She nodded, but remained silent as she stared at him carefully. "Is that all?" he asked, noticing her gazing for the first time. She leaned her chin on her hand again, shooting him a charming grin.

"Of course," she said. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded.

"Okay," he didn't sound convinced. She cleared her throat and turned back to her evidence. She made a mental note to keep a careful eye out the next couple days. She was sure it would all blow over by Halloween.

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After three days of processing, incessant questioning and report filing, Friday rolled around and she was relieved to have the weekend to decompress. New York was in full swing for Halloween and she just prayed that the crazies behaved long enough for her to enjoy a day off…she doubted it. On the way to work, she had already seen a grown man dressed up as a giant snowman, entrancing pedestrians with songs of summer and happily ever afters. It didn't give her much hope.

She wanted to leave…she really did, but she couldn't until she spoke with Mac. She hated to admit it but she had joined in on Adam's crazy stalking. However, she had been a lot more subtle and had not been doing it for alien research. She had simply been keeping a careful eye out for her partner. Nothing weird or crazy about that. What was crazy was the fact the she observed very little food consumption and sleep from her partner. Therefore, her sleep deprived mind was forced to come to illogical conclusions that a simple conversation would clear up. A conversation she was about to have.

Stella watched Mac from her office and waited. All she needed was for him to head out so they could have a little chat, she could casually discover whether he was a superhero not, and then she could go home and sleep.

Ten minutes later Mac finally stood and headed towards the locker rooms. She followed him carefully and entered a couple minutes after him.

"Is there a reason you're following me?" Mac spoke from behind her as she entered the room. She flipped on the dim lights and glared in his direction. She had yelped slightly and he was wearing a smug smirk that said he had heard. She tried to calm her pounding heart.

"That wasn't funny, Mac," she scolded. He nodded in agreement. He was casually leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and mischief dancing in his eyes.

"So?" he asked.

"What?" she frowned in confusion.

"I'm assuming there is a reason that you followed me in here," he explained with a raised eyebrow. She sighed and crossed her arms to match his stance.

"I was just making sure you were heading home," she shrugged. His eyebrows rose further and his look let her know she was full of it. She sighed further in frustration. "Okay, I was going to ask you something, but upon further reflection it's just too crazy and Halloween has obviously just gotten to me," she said quickly. He pushed away from the doorway and moved past her to his locker.

"You can ask me anything, you know that," he said as he unlocked his locker and shrugged on his coat.

"Mac, you're going to laugh," she tried to keep the slight whine out of her voice. He smirked as he pulled out his duffelbag and closed his locker, focusing his full attention on her.

"I won't, I promise," he said and she narrowed her eyes, not liking the grin pulling on his lips. "Scout's honor," he held up his fingers in the pledge. She smiled and grabbed her own coat that she had left on the bench that morning. She wrapped it around her hands casually to prevent herself from pinching her fingers, which was her nervous tell that Mac would instantly notice. His glance at her hands and the widening of his smirk told her that he had noticed. She glared, but decided it was now or never and she might as well just cut right to the heart of the situation.

"I've just been thinking about how little sleep you get and the fact that you hardly eat-" she glanced up, but received no reaction from Mac. "-and you have an innate ability to wriggle your way out of impossible situations…I was just curious about how you do it," she said, choosing her words carefully and trying not to sound crazy. He stared at her for a long moment before clearing his throat, in what was an obvious attempt to prevent laughter.

"Are you asking me if I'm an alien with superpowers?" he asked, his eyes glowing with amusement. She let out a breathless laugh

"Of course not, that's-" she started, but he cut her off.

"A very interesting notebook was left on my desk tonight," he explained and she stared at him in surprise. "The owner had a lot of accusations to make…in fact, they were very similar to your current questions. Unfortunately, the owner of the notebook failed to realize the distinctness of their own chicken scratch handwriting," he continued with a smile. She waited for him to continue and to tell her the accusations were crazy and insane, but he didn't.

"So?" she asked, looking for an answer. He simply let the smile settle on his face as he pulled his duffelbag over his shoulder. He walked towards the door, but before he passed her, he leaned in and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Happy Halloween, Stel," he whispered before heading for the door. She turned with her mouth gaping and her face warming.

"Wait, you didn't answer-" she was cut off as he walked out the door and it shut behind him. She swore under her breath as she put her coat on and headed to the door.

"Well, it's a good thing I wasn't planning on getting any sleep tonight," she sighed sarcastically to herself as she left the room. She hated Halloween fever...

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Woo, thank-you for reading! There was a hopefully subtle reference to a certain animated movie in my story, so please comment if you found it and tell me if you liked the story! I love hearing suggestions on what to write next and I am working on finishing stories now. You will be hearing from me soon…*insert evil laugh*


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